For 18 years, Barbara Butler has specialized in the design and construction of custom, site-specific, artistic play structures.
Barbara’s philosophy: create a great backyard play structure that’s an outdoor playroom. Make it beautiful to look at and strong enough for the whole family to play on. Spark the imagination and encourage kids to turn off the TV and computer, and go outside to play!
About Barbara: Barbara grew up in upstate New York, one of eight children in a close-knit family, where active, outdoor play was a daily occurrence. Graduating from SUNY Cortland in 1978 with a BA in Political Science, Barbara didn’t actually want to be the lawyer her mom wanted her to be. Instead, she had fun learning the construction trade from her 2 contractor brothers, remodeling brownstones in Washington, D.C., and concentrating on her first loves: art and writing. After several years in NYC and Washington D.C., she decided to pursue her interest in writing and went back to graduate school at SUNY Binghamton. After graduate school, Barbara moved to San Francisco where she concentrated on writing, painting and sculpture. Her construction skills at first were just a means to make a living while concentrating on her artwork. But then in 1986, Barbara and a friend, Robert Forrest, founded Outer Space Design and began specializing in artistic backyard design. In 1987, her famous client, singer/songwriter Bobby McFerrin (“Don’t worry/Be Happy”) and his wife, Debbie, an avid collector of Barbara’s artistic furniture, asked for an unusual play structure for their 2 sons. Suddenly, all of Barbara’s loves fused together: art, outdoors, constructing from wood, children, family, and play! Since then, Barbara has combined function with art to create hundreds of unique, magical places where children can play.
About Barbara Butler Artist♦Builder, Inc: After several years as a sole proprietor, Barbara was joined in her play structure business in 1996 by future husband, Jeffrey Beal. Based in San Francisco, Barbara and Jeff accepted commissions across the country, building beautiful play structures on site. Barbara’s brother, James, (general contractor and owner of Butler Construction, Los Angeles, CA) often joined the team. In 1997, after finishing Connecticut Castle in the dead of winter, the group decided to build play structures indoors (controlled climate, longer light, happier workers). They moved to their first shop and developed a unique modular building system to make delivery and installation easier. In 1999, Barbara’s sister, Suzanne Butler, joined the team. Formerly Director of Training at American Skandia in Shelton, CT, Suzanne left the corporate world to become Barbara’s business partner and co-owner. The business incorporated and Barbara Butler Artist♦Builder, Inc. was born. Since then, Barbara and her team have built more than 400 custom playhouses, play structures and tree forts, delivering and installing all over the country and even internationally.
Barbara’s portfolio of work has garnered national attention and acclaim. Acknowledged by the Wall Street Journal (October 28, 2004) as “the custom playhouse maker we like best… one of the world’s best known playhouse makers with celebrity clients… a spectacular quality of workmanship and creativity” (see In the Media for the full story).
In addition to the Wall Street Journal:
Magazines: Barbara’s work has appeared in Architectural Digest, People, In-Style, Child Magazine, House & Garden, Coastal Living, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Rob Report, Sunset Magazine, Veranda, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and more;
Television: Barbara and her play structures have been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNBC, CBS Early Show, Evening Magazine, House Beautiful TV, Livin’ Large, The Christopher Lowell Show, Billionaire Toys and HGTV’s prestigious Modern Masters;
Books: Barbara’s play structures appear in The Treehouse Book,Children’s Playhouses, The Kidspace Idea Book, Treehouses, The Dream Catalog, and Taunton’s The Workshop (see Booksfor more information); Clients: Barbara’s celebrity clients include Dreamworks, Robert Redford, Kevin Kline & Phoebe Cates, Jada Pinkett Smith & Will Smith, Walt Disney Productions, Bobby McFerrin, and Bob Weir.
Barbara Butler Artist♦Builder, Inc: Play Professional Team
Barbara Butler, President and CEO
Suzanne Butler, Vice-President and CFO (sister)
Jeffrey Beal, Vice-President/Installations (husband)
James J. Butler, Vice-President/AutoCAD (brother)
Sean Federico Butler, Shop Foreman (nephew)
Gabrielle Hustead, Account Manager (niece)
Ember Butler, Web Assistance (sister)
Lila Butler, Direct Mail (niece)
Robert J. Butler, Technical Consultant (brother)
Rudi Verhoeven, Artist & Master Stainer
George W. Kovka, Business Consultant
Web Site Design by: DEV408
To request more information:
Email: suzanne@barbarabutler.com
Phone: (415) 864-6840
Fax: (650)877-7223
325 South Maple Avenue #37 - South San Francisco, CA 94080
